'Goodnight Mr. Tom' Link to my other blogsite

Blogger is too cumbersome to upload richer texts and so I prefer to use my weebly website for things such as powerpoints and document files.
I have uploaded a PDF version of a powerpoint that gives an historical overview of the novel's context.

www.stannersenglishresources.weebly.com

Hope teachers using 'Goodnight Mr. Tom' find it useful.
Barbara

Goodnight Mr Tom and Blogsite Nomination

Many have requested a reposting of some of the resources that I made available back in 2010 on my wikispace. I will load these up for a short time, over the next few blogs.

I have also been nominated for a blogsite competition outlined below.

"The Fascination Awards are an annual collection of the web’s most inspirational and thought-provoking blogs and are nominated by our editorial team and voted on by our readers.We know that all blogs are not created equal, so we want to recognize websites that go above and beyond, providing truly engaging content for their visitors. Bloggers can nominate their favourites". \

Goodnight Mr Tom

This novel remains a universal favourite, used in both Primary and Secondary Schools. Many resources are available but they tend to be suitable for Primary school age students. There is much less available for teenage students and yet it works very well for that age group as well.

I have used it for a conceptual unit entitled 'Changing Worlds' where the focus is on how individuals adapt and cope when the world they were familiar with undergoes massive transformation. The text enables the study of real events that can inform understanding of the complexity of human relationships. The characterisation and themes are accessible and validated by the wealth of historical resources that are available to bring that period to life.

Brilliant documentaries and archival footage and images exist along with eye-witness accounts. Study can involve webquests, podcasts, visual literacy and the evaluation of other non-fiction, primary evidence texts.

Contextual Significance Webquest:

www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/

www.1940.co.uk

www.stannersenglishresources.weebly.com

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Barbara

More on Typography

Typography courses look complicated and so I have cheated and just googled what typography clips are already available online for subjects such as poetry in general or set poets. Students have also posted famous speeches from films such as 'V for Vendetta' or '2001 Space Odyssy' or 'Blade Runner' or rhetoricians like Winston Churchill or King. It really helps students to focus on the words, phraseology and intonation involved and for this reason is particularly useful with poetry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ0RjBthqhY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW0x7n6-eCw&feature=related

It is an easy way to spend hours looking for video clips but sometimes you can come up with some gems such as this one which works well for the HSC 'distinctive voice' module elective as a trigger for establishing the focus for examining the power of voice within text.

http://vimeo.com/3829682

Hope you enjoy these and start hunting for your own. You could also make it a class project, put students in groups to look for suitable clips for poetry, drama, famous speeches or whatever. You can then have discussion as to which ones are the best and why. A fun way to explore language and how it shapes meaning and audience response.

New term already in view

The best part of the holidays in many ways - more relaxed but beginning to think about what is in store. Each year, I swear that I am going to focus on working more effectively rather than harder - revamping rather than starting from scratch. Easier said than done but teacher forums are a great place to get ideas and share resources.

The two webtools for English teachers today are:

Flocabulary: Educational Hip Hop: http://www.flocabulary.com/macbeth.html

A rap video telling the story of Macbeth. While I am not into rap, the students could like it.

Shakespearean Insults: http://www.petelevin.com/shakespeare.htm

Afun way to introduce Shakespeare.

Visual Literacy Teaching Unit: http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/vislit.htm
Visual Literacy Unit for Years 7 & 8.

While I teach plays other than 'Macbeth', there are also many excellent app downloads available that summarise the plot and highlight aspects of characterisation, language and so on. I found the last time that I taught it, that the students themselves found ones that I had missed and since they are so cheap, didn't mind downloading their own to help them understand the play.

Image manipulation apps are also out there in abundance so visual literacy can be exciting for students because they can compose really professional looking picture books and so on.

At the moment I am still working on 'Satire' which seems to be taking years to get finished. It is such a broad field but classic satire is so different to contemporary styles because the heavy moral message is less evident. Condemnation aplenty but little real suggestion of how social flaws and vices can be remedied or reformed. Visual satire and satiric poetry remain readily accessible. Texts like 'The Loved Ones' however would not work easily with many students now as the context and language would take a lot of time. Shepard Fairey has some wonderful posters that students enjoy discussing.

Am also working on upcoming TTA workshops for Term II which include, Advanced Module B Speeches, 'Witness', Wilfred Owen, 'Hamlet' and Extension 1 Science Fiction.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays.

Using Web tools in the classroom

Teachers offer lots of advice about the many web tools that are available for classroom use. The enormous range, especially with graphics, are particularly useful for English teachers. Most of us are familiar with wordles and the many aps that can be used to really get the students interested in visual literacy. It also tends to raise the standard of the finished product.
I have become fascinated with what can be done with typography which brings the visual manipulation of text to dizzying heights. It can be especially effective with poetry as the following clip shows.

I will endeavour to post some excellent Websites for English teachers each blog. Most of us do 'Macbeth' at some stage as well as visual literacy with Stage 4. The following sites have some good ideas.

* Virtual Macbeth: http://virtualmacbeth.wikispaces.com/
Foul whisperings, strange matters - a Second Life treatment of Macbeth.
*Film Site: http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms1.html
Cinematic terms: a film-maker's glossary. In order to be knowledgeable about
film-making, the vocabulary of film studies and the techniques of cinema, some
of the most basic and common terms must be defined. Illustrations are provided
with many of the terms, to help describe them more fully.
* Visual Literacy in the Classroom: http://www.zardec.net.au/keith/visual.htm Students today live in a multimedia world. Everyone can benefit by developing their abilities to create, use and evaluate visual resources.
*Shakescenes: http://www.princeton.edu/~danson/Lit131/Scenes.htm Video clips of scenes from Shakespearean plays.
*Wired 14.11: Very Short Stories: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html A collection of stories using only six words.

Will get back to learning how to better use web tools. Even Coles shopping bumpf has barcodes now that enable you to watch online cooking classes via your phone. Where will we be in ten years?

School Based Workshops and Online Resources

It has been a while since I have posted anything and thought it was about time that I updated what I am up to.

At the TTA workshops that I have been giving for the past few years, schools have often asked for site based workshops that would cater specifically to the HSC texts that they are studying. This has proved really successful with not only 'Belonging' workshops for students but half day sessions with teachers and students for Extension English courses or Advanced Modules. Regional areas have been particularly keen to take up this option, as it is difficult to get to the University and other workshops that are more readily available to city students.

Professional Development workshops can be costly in time and money for schools. Until more online courses become available, school based workshops can be a more cost effective alternative. Since they can also cater to students or teachers, depending on the numbers involved, costs can be minimised as travel and casual hire costs can also be saved. Workshop booklets and workshop resources are designed to for students in preparation for the HSC exams.

To make this option easier for teachers to access, I have set up an online site for teachers to express interest in organising school based workshops that suit their particular needs. I have also started making some junior and senior resources available for purchase. This site is still being constructed but it will be interesting to see if it will help address what teachers are looking for with the implementation of the National Curriculum. I have included hotlinks to TTA to see the range of courses available and to Phoenix Education for those who seem to be having trouble getting copies of books such as 'Exploring Genre - Murder Most Foul'.

If you are interested, take a look at:

www.stannersenglishresources.weebly.com

I would welcome any feedback or suggestions. It is still very much in an infancy stage so don't expect too many bells and whistles.

If there is sufficient interest, I might even resurrect the English Ning I set up a couple of years ago as a place for teachers to share resources and ideas.

Hope you are all enjoying the Easter holidays and not too exhausted with Year 12 or junior marking.

Barbara

Term 4 is upon us

A final scramble to get units up and running and finish off the pre HSC editing of drafts still filtering through from students. Increasingly the effectiveness of a unit relates to the quality of preparation as once the term is underway, the pace becomes almost frenetic at times. Setting up wikispaces and weebly sites can help build up a handy repository of resources to draw on and limit handouts and assessment notification that can become a nightmare. As always the holidays have flown with many good intentions not achieved. My mistake is in envisaging that I can get so much more done in the time.

Term 4 workshops will kick in by Week 3 and next year, there should be some online versions of the topics offered this year through TTA. It will be interesting as well to get further updates regarding changing curriculum content, approach and assessment for years 7-12. The adage that change is good for us has some merit but I sometimes wonder whether there will ever be a ceiling on the expectations placed on time poor teachers. I look back and remember times that seemed less hectic and more productive.

Technology has been a mixed blessing but I will continue to explore how it can be used effectively within the classroom. There are many forums and blogspots available for sharing great ideas and software to try out and to improve current strategies. Powerpoints have been the staple of many teachers for a long time but it needs to be remembered that unless they make a real impact on the viewer, they are a poor substitute for a simple handout which will contain far more indepth information than just words on slides.

Well back to resource prep for my upcoming units.